Directive

DIRECTIVE

ON THE KEY TASKS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, GENERAL EDUCATION, CONTINUOUS EDUCATION, VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TEACHER TRAINING INSTITUTIONS FOR THE 2007-2008 SCHOOL YEAR

||| general education, continuing education, vocational education

||| and teacher training schools for the 2007-2008 academic year

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Implementing the Resolution of the 10th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, based on the Education Law 2005 and the tasks set out in the second phase of the Education Development Strategy for 2001-2010; continuing to implement Resolutions No. 40 and 41 of the 10th National Assembly session, Directive No. 06-CT/TW dated November 7, 2006 of the Politburo on the movement "Learning and Practicing the Example of President Ho Chi Minh's Morality," and Directive No. 33/2006/CT-TTg dated September 8, 2006 of the Government Chairman on combating corruption and overcoming the disease of achievement-seeking in education; building on the achievements made during the 2006-2007 school year; based on the actual situation of the education and training sector,

The Minister of Education and Training issues the directive that in the 2007-2008 school year, the entire sector will focus on implementing the following tasks:

1. Linking the strict and effective implementation of Directive No. 06-CT/TW of the Politburo on the movement "Learning and Practicing the Example of President Ho Chi Minh's Morality" with the implementation of Directive No. 33/2006/CT-TTg of the Government Chairman on combating corruption and overcoming the disease of achievement-seeking in education, the entire sector will continue to vigorously implement the movement "No to Corruption and Achievement-Seeking in Education" ("Two Nos").

For teachers and educational management staff, the key aspect of learning and practicing the example of President Ho Chi Minh's morality is to cultivate teacher character and qualities, practice thrift, combat waste and corruption, comply with laws, not violate teacher ethics, engage in continuous self-study, and improve their qualifications.

Students and trainees will carry out activities under the theme "Youth Learning and Practicing the Example of President Ho Chi Minh's Morality," focusing on enhancing awareness and determination to study for the country and themselves, cultivating moral conduct and civilized behavior, adhering to school regulations and state laws, actively participating in social work and volunteer activities.

The "Two Nos" campaign in the 2007-2008 school year includes four contents: saying no to corruption in examinations and the disease of achievement-seeking, saying no to violations of teacher ethics and students being promoted to higher grades without meeting the required standards. Departments of Education and Training, and educational institutions must develop plans to implement the campaign closely aligned with reality and suitable to the specific conditions of each locality and unit.

Based on the results of the 2006-2007 school year and the quality check at the beginning of the new school year, schools need to strictly organize the start-of-year activities for all teachers, students, and parents regarding the four contents of the "Two Nos" campaign this school year. It is necessary to organize registration and commitment to competition among subject departments and teaching staff to implement the four contents of the "Two Nos" campaign, emphasizing the requirement: Each teacher is a model of morality and self-study..

It is necessary to make students and parents clearly understand that being promoted to a higher grade prematurely is a waste of time, money, and effort for the student, teacher, and family today, and it is the inevitable path leading to unemployment and poverty in the future. If due to various reasons in the past, the students' abilities did not meet the standard to be promoted, then additional study to reach the standard is the correct approach. The 2007-2008 school year is the first year of the three-year breakthrough period to say no to the phenomenon of students being promoted prematurely.

Continue to reform the commendation and reward system to ensure practicality and effectiveness, encouraging good teaching, learning, and management in accordance with the characteristics of different regions. Implement the commendation and reward system according to the Circular guiding the commendation and reward work in the education sector from the 2007-2008 school year.

2. Continue to implement reforms in the curriculum, content, and methods of education, with a focus on organizing the implementation of the division of classes in Grade 10 and Grade 11 and addressing the issue of premature promotion. Develop and widely apply systems of tools to support the reform of teaching methods and assessment. Promote comprehensive education, paying special attention to moral education, lifestyle education, vocational guidance, and legal education.

a) Early Childhood Education

Continue to implement the Project on Developing Early Childhood Education for the 2006-2010 period approved by Decision No. 149/2006/QĐ-TTg dated May 23, 2006 of the Prime Minister; continue to direct the pilot program of early childhood education; prepare to implement the evaluation criteria for children aged 5-6 years. Focus on prioritizing investment in kindergartens for 5-year-olds, especially in difficult areas, ensuring that all 5-year-old children can attend kindergarten to familiarize themselves with the Vietnamese language before entering primary school. Departments of Education and Training should strengthen supervision to ensure safety for children; organize training and widely disseminate to teachers and caregivers the requirements of the Child Care Regulations.

b) General Education

Effectively implement the division of classes in Grade 10 and Grade 11; organize a five-year review of the implementation of the primary and lower secondary school textbooks; implement reforms in teaching methods and assessment of student learning outcomes; continue to pilot technical high school models in some localities.

Secondary schools and supplementary secondary education institutions need to carefully analyze the results of the recent graduation exams, identify the causes of low pass rates, and propose comprehensive measures for managers, teachers, students, and parents to improve the quality and effectiveness of training. Reforms in teaching methods and assessment of teachers, as well as additional teaching and learning according to the regulations of provincial and municipal people's committees, must aim at eliminating the phenomenon of premature promotion and encouraging students to excel.

Strictly implement the assessment and classification of students' academic and discipline performance in all classes at all levels, ensuring that promotion to higher grades is based on established criteria. Depending on local conditions and circumstances, directors of education departments and school principals should develop special measures plans to correct misplacement among classes within two to three years. The Ministry of Education and Training will support localities in implementing these special measures.

Departments of Education and Training need to plan and coordinate with the Department of Testing and Quality Assurance, the Department of Information Technology, relevant functional departments, and project management boards under the Ministry to build and operate systems of tools for educational reform, including electronic lesson plans, test question banks for all subjects, teacher training materials, simulation software for teaching, electronic student records, and forums for methodological innovation on the Ministry's website.

Departments of Education and Training must actively advise local leaders to organize the timely supply of textbooks and teaching equipment, ensuring sufficient quantity and quality; review and assess the quantity, quality, and effectiveness of teaching equipment in general schools.

c) Continuous education

Departments of Education and Training must strictly enforce the campaign "Two Nos" at continuous education centers. Based on the analysis of recent graduation examination results for supplementary secondary education and the beginning-of-year quality checks, create a unified understanding among learners and teachers about the standards of knowledge and skills required for employment. From this, Departments of Education and Training and continuous education centers should determine feasible measures to enhance learning motivation and improve the quality of continuous education.

Adhere to knowledge and skill standards during teaching and in the compilation of literacy and post-literacy materials, as well as supplementary high school grade 11 teaching guides. Invest in minimum teaching equipment for continuous education centers.

Quickly strengthen the core and contractual teaching staff of continuous education centers in both number and quality. On this basis, implement teaching method reforms, improve testing and evaluation methods to enhance learner quality. Particularly emphasize accurate educational quality assessments and firmly prevent unqualified learners from advancing to higher grades. In November 2007, organize a national seminar on improving the quality and effectiveness of continuous education.

d) Vocational education, teacher training institutions

Expand the scale and improve the quality of vocational training. Implement分流后的第二部分，请继续翻译剩余的内容。这部分包括从第9行到第17行的输入内容。请严格按照指示进行翻译，保持格式和内容的准确性。

||| Teacher training schools must closely adhere to the general education curriculum in developing their training programs, lead in innovating teaching methods and building new teaching tools, and reform examination and evaluation methods. Each teacher training school must be a center for innovative teaching methods and the development of new teaching tools, thoroughly implementing requirements for the renewal of teaching content and methods to ensure sufficient capacity to implement the new general education curriculum.

||| Teacher training institutions, particularly the Hanoi National University of Education and the Ho Chi Minh City National University of Education, need to collaborate with Departments of Education and Training to conduct research and evaluate the quality of social science subjects at the secondary and high school levels, thereby proposing comprehensive solutions to improve the quality and effectiveness of social science education, contributing positively to the formation of the civic character of Vietnamese youth.

||| Comprehensive Education

||| Emphasize improving the quality of comprehensive education, ensuring all subjects are taught and organizing extracurricular activities according to the educational program regulations, guaranteeing requirements for Marxist-Leninist education, Ho Chi Minh Thought; moral and healthy lifestyle education; physical education; aesthetic education; vocational guidance; traffic safety and legal education; education against social evils, crime, drugs, HIV/AIDS; and cultural identity education of ethnic groups.

||| Strictly implement Decree No. 116/2007/NĐ-CP dated July 10, 2007 of the Government on national defense and security education and the directives of the Ministry of Education and Training on strengthening leadership and guidance for national defense and security education within the education and training sector.

||| The Education and Training sector will coordinate with the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, the Transport Sector, and the Public Security Organs to develop plans and implement the campaign "Students and Trainees Model Citizens Adhering to Traffic Laws and Mobilizing Their Families to Seriously Observe Traffic Regulations" to contribute to reducing traffic accidents nationwide.

||| Organize the Phu Dong Health Festival at the provincial and regional levels and prepare for the National Phu Dong Health Festival in 2008.

||| 3. Develop the testing system and quality assessment, continue to innovate examination and evaluation work to accurately reflect quality requirements.

Consolidate and improve the examination and quality assessment system for education in all provinces and cities. Strengthen training for staff involved in examinations and quality assessments. Continue to perfect the overall project on examination reform and admission procedures to be submitted to the Government for approval, implementing the reform process for examinations and educational quality evaluations.

Review and improve the regulations for general examinations. Enhance inspection and supervision at all stages of the examination organization process to ensure strict, fair, and impartial examinations with specific measures to prevent and stop negative phenomena.

Actively implement reforms in the work of assessing teaching and learning processes. Develop mechanisms and implement solutions to ensure the quality of incoming students at all levels of education. Implement plans to conduct quality assessments for preschool, primary, secondary, vocational, and teacher training education. For the 2007-2008 academic year, continue to implement the reform process for examinations and objective student quality assessments, particularly for final-year students. Conduct quality assessments for elementary education in all provinces and cities, organizing a national conference on elementary education quality during summer 2008. Develop and complete question banks, multiple-choice questions, and test papers at both the Ministry and provincial levels for various educational levels to serve examination, testing, and student quality evaluation reforms.

4. Build and enhance the quality of the teaching staff and educational management personnel

Continue to implement Directive No. 40/CT-TW of the Central Committee's Secretariat and Decision No. 09/2005/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister regarding the construction and improvement of the quality of the teaching staff and educational management personnel, implement Resolution No. 08/NQ-BCSĐ dated April 4, 2007 of the Party Cadre Affairs Board of the Ministry of Education and Training on the development of the teaching profession and teacher training institutions from 2007 to 2015, and Directive No. 08/2002/CT-BGD&ĐT dated March 20, 2002 of the Minister on training teachers for national defense education in high schools and vocational colleges with the following priorities:

Develop and promulgate legal normative documents stipulating staffing standards for civil servants working in public early childhood education institutions and specialized schools, the working conditions of secondary school teachers; provisions on the content and form of teacher recruitment and lecturer recruitment.

Develop professional standards for kindergarten teachers, lower secondary school teachers, upper secondary school teachers, and vocational college teachers; implement the Professional Standards for Primary School Teachers according to Decision No. 14/2007/QĐ-BGDĐT dated May 4, 2007 of the Minister of Education and Training.

Develop and submit to the Government a proposal for a new salary system for teachers.

Teacher training schools develop and implement training plans to improve the qualifications of lecturers, increasing the proportion of lecturers with master’s and doctoral degrees.

Develop professional standards for secondary school principals, pilot the rotation of principals. Train secondary school principals according to the new program of the Ministry of Education and Training so that by 2010, all principals must have undergone management training. By the end of the 2007-2008 academic year, evaluate all principals based on the opinions of teachers at their schools.

Review and accurately assess the actual status of the early childhood, primary, secondary, vocational, and teacher training teaching staff and educational management personnel. On this basis, develop training and upgrading plans according to standards, continue to organize the reorganization of the teaching staff and implement policies for resolving teacher issues after reorganization as prescribed by the Government. Organize training for teachers and lecturers on innovative teaching methods, innovative assessment methods, the use of educational equipment, and systems of tools for innovative teaching methods. Strengthen the training of ethnic languages for teachers working in ethnic regions.

5. Enhance the capacity of the educational management system from central to local levels and the management capacity of schools.

The Ministry of Education and Training shall issue common criteria for national education development, based on which localities will conduct annual evaluations of education development, considering these as important bases for proposing appropriate development solutions in line with local realities.

Develop and submit to the Government for issuance a Decree on the structure of the national education system as a basis for planning networks of universities, colleges, vocational colleges, and vocational training institutions, unifying qualification standards in vocational education to improve training effectiveness, facilitate interconnectivity in training, and promote administrative reform in education and training.

Promote decentralization in education management to localities and educational and training institutions, especially in teacher recruitment management, budget utilization, and training process organization.

Improve the organizational structure of educational inspectors at all levels. Strengthen administrative and specialized inspections, inspections of additional teaching and learning activities, and inspections of the implementation of the "Two Noes" campaign with four contents for the 2007-2008 academic year.

The Ministry of Education and Training and Provincial Departments of Education and Training shall actively build and implement the "one-stop" mechanism for work resolution procedures, and computerize management activities.

Strengthen exchanges and learning of international educational management experiences, particularly with countries in the region.

Develop mechanisms to concretize and adjust cooperation between schools, families, and society in managing and educating students.

The leadership of the Ministry of Education and Training holds weekly meetings on the implementation of the "Two Noes" campaign and the 2007-2008 academic year, conducting quarterly meetings between the Ministry's leadership and regional competition zones.

6. Strengthening and enhancing educational facilities and equipment, developing school networks, subject classrooms, and dormitories for teachers; attracting resources for constructing physical infrastructure, schools, and classrooms through clear policies and planning.

Conducting reviews, establishing, and implementing standards for school facilities and teaching equipment for kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools, and high schools; promoting self-made teaching aids.

Completing and submitting to the Government for approval the second phase of the Program on Reinforcing School Infrastructure and Dormitories for Teachers.

Establishing and submitting to the Government for approval a new tuition fee proposal.

Proposing to the Government to issue land policies for education development, policies to encourage investment in private schools, and boarding general secondary schools in ethnic regions.

Enhancing international cooperation, attracting, and effectively utilizing Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds allocated for education; building mechanisms to coordinate education projects to concentrate capital and improve investment efficiency, avoiding dispersion and overlap.

Announcing criteria for investment and investment plans from state funds for education in each locality for the 2007-2008 academic year and the anticipated investment capacity from 2008-2010 to enable localities to use state budget funds efficiently for education.

7. Consolidating the results of universal primary education and literacy eradication; implementing universal lower secondary education to ensure solid outcomes; promoting socialization in education, providing education for all, building a learning society, and meeting people's learning needs.

Consolidating the results of universal primary education and literacy eradication; intensifying universal primary education at the appropriate age and universal lower secondary education; implementing universal upper secondary education where conditions permit; increasing financial investment in localities with difficult socio-economic conditions to ensure quality and sustainability in universal education efforts.

Localities that have not yet met the standard for universal lower secondary education must increase financial investment, mobilize all children of school age, persuade dropout students to return to school, strengthen the teaching staff, expand teaching methods, bring classes closer to residential clusters; enhance coordination with relevant departments, mass organizations, and leverage the management role of local authorities at all levels to promote socialization in universal education efforts.

Localities that have achieved the standard for universal education must annually review indicators to promptly implement measures to maintain the results of universal education.

Continuing to implement the project "Building a Learning Society Phase 2005-2010" according to Decision No. 112/2005/QD-TTg dated May 18, 2005 of the Prime Minister, consolidating and developing regular education centers, community learning centers, foreign language and computer centers, viewing these as essential tools for building a learning society. Developing programs and materials for guided self-study and distance learning; training programs to update knowledge and skills to meet learners' needs. Establishing financial mechanisms for the activities of community learning centers at commune, ward, and town levels.

Implementing guidelines for converting school types in accordance with the Education Law 2005 to meet the requirements of socializing education, ensuring increased investment in education, increasing the number of students enrolled (reducing dropout rates), improving educational quality, and creating equality in educational opportunities.

Continuing to mobilize domestic and foreign enterprises and philanthropists to contribute and support education in various forms. In 2008, localities organize award ceremonies to honor outstanding enterprises and individuals contributing to education and training in their localities, aiming to hold a central-level award ceremony for the second time in 2009.

Closely coordinating with the Vietnam Association for Promoting Education, the Vietnam Association of Retired Educators, and media outlets to promote and foster the tradition of learning and creative labor among Vietnamese people. Honoring outstanding collectives and individuals in teaching, learning, and scientific research. Widely publicizing exemplary collectives, teachers, and outstanding students.

 8. Ensuring fairness in education, prioritizing the development of ethnic education, education in difficult areas, and special education.

Strengthening the teaching of ethnic languages as stipulated in the Education Law 2005; focusing on teaching Vietnamese to ethnic students in boarding and semi-boarding general secondary schools, teaching Vietnamese to ethnic students at the primary level; creating conditions for five-year-old ethnic children to become familiar with Vietnamese before entering first grade; paying attention to educating disabled children and children in particularly difficult circumstances.

Prioritizing investment in education in difficult areas and ethnic regions; implementing policies to support teaching materials, learning aids, textbooks; scholarship policies for ethnic students, policy beneficiaries, and disadvantaged students; increasing the scale and improving living conditions in dormitories and teaching conditions at some boarding general secondary schools; continuing to implement the policy of selecting ethnic students based on equivalent qualifications to enroll in vocational training, junior college, college, and university programs.

Holding a National Ethnic Education Conference in December 2007 to determine appropriate solutions for ethnic education development in line with economic and social conditions and the current status of schools in ethnic regions.

9. Vigorously promoting the nurturing of excellent and talented students to lay the groundwork for talent development.

Organize the evaluation of the 42-year activities of specialized schools and gifted schools nationwide, on this basis, develop a planning for the specialized school and gifted school system to meet the new development requirements of the country and each province and city. Develop policies for selecting and training excellent teachers for specialized schools and gifted schools; develop scholarship policies and preferential policies for selecting excellent students and gifted students into high-level human resource training programs. The content and methods of education at specialized schools and gifted schools must develop the talents of students based on ensuring comprehensive educational goals; continue to innovate student excellence selection exams to positively impact the teaching process.

Strengthen international exchanges to exchange experiences and attract international support for the work of nurturing excellent students and gifted students. Continue to select and send excellent students to participate in International Olympic competitions. Organize the summary of the organization of the 2007 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO 2007) and implement preparations for hosting the 2008 International Physics Olympiad (IPhO 2008) in Vietnam.

In order to organize and implement all the above tasks, the Minister of Education and Training requests:

Directors of provincial Departments of Education and Training, based on local practical conditions, develop plans and organize the implementation, direct, inspect, urge the education and training departments, schools, and other educational institutions in their locality to carry out the academic year tasks; advise the Provincial Party Committee, Municipal Party Committee, People's Council, and People's Committee of the province or city to issue directives on the academic year 2007-2008 tasks in their locality; actively promote cooperation and coordination with relevant agencies, organizations to create favorable conditions for the education and training sector to fulfill the academic year tasks.

Directors of universities, principals of teacher-training universities, colleges, and vocational secondary schools responsible for concretizing these tasks and organizing their implementation according to their functions and responsibilities.

Comrades leading the Ministry of Education and Training instruct heads of units under the Ministry of Education and Training to guide, inspect, and urge local educational management levels and schools, teacher-training departments to implement the academic year tasks; promptly report, reflect the situation, and propose solutions for guidance to resolve issues arising during the implementation process.

This Directive shall be disseminated to all cadres, civil servants, employees at all levels of educational management, teachers at public and private educational institutions from preschool, general education, continuing education, vocational education, and teacher-training schools and departments to understand and implement it.